Being young in Australia

LSIC has released its summary report from Wave 5, which covers a wide range of topics related to the lives of Indigenous children in urban, rural and remote centres around the country, with a particular focus on early education, Indigenous languages and multiple disadvantages. The study aims to improve the understanding of, and policy response to, the diverse circumstances faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, their families and communities. See more

One of the reports from the Brotherhood of St Laurence 1st Youth Unemployment Monitor for 2015 describes how the dreams of Australia’s unemployed youth are being shattered as the nation’s unemployment rate overall climbs. More than 290,000 Australians aged 15 to 24 were categorised as unemployed in January. Worst hit were the 15 to 19-year-olds, with the unemployment rate for this group hitting 20 per cent – a level not seen since the mid-1990s. see more

The paper examines these issues in the context of the agenda to prevent violence against women and children. It examines conceptual understandings of violence against women, and argues that we need to broaden the current way of thinking about how we frame what violence against women encompasses. It highlights the critical need to understand and respect the complexity and specificity of gendered disability violence. In positioning violence against women as a form of discrimination, this paper recognises the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination that combine to significantly heighten the risk and likelihood of women and girls with disabilities experiencing gendered disability violence. In so doing, it reflects an understanding that violence against women, as a form of discrimination, is not just a matter of ‘intergender inequality’ between women and men, but also a matter of ‘intragender inequality’ among women. See more

A poll measuring Australian school students’ levels of hope, wellbeing and engagement shows that students’ level of enthusiasm for school wanes as they progress into the higher grades, and only one-third of respondents believe that they will get a good job.

The Gallup Student Poll was conducted among 7,300 students in years five to 12 across Australia in September last year. See more

Some 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults are at risk of hearing loss due to the unsafe use of personal audio devices and exposure to damaging levels of sound at noisy entertainment venues, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Data from studies in middle- and high-income countries analysed by WHO indicate that nearly 50% of 12–35-year-olds are exposed to unsafe levels of sound from the use of personal audio devices and around 40% are exposed to potentially damaging levels of sound at entertainment venues such as nightclubs, bars and sporting events.

Ahead of International Ear Care Day on 3 March, the WHO has launched a Make Listening Safe initiative to draw attention to the dangers of unsafe listening and promote safer practices. See more